Is This Ray Lewis' Final NFL Game? One of Many Questions

There are a lot of questions surrounding this weekend's NFL divisional playoff games. Some of the more interesting questions are:

By RICK BROWNTHE LEDGER

There are a lot of questions surrounding this weekend's NFL divisional playoff games. Some of the more interesting questions are:

Is this Ray Lewis' final game in the NFL? The Baltimore Ravens take on the Denver Broncos, and former Kathleen star said he will retire when the season is over.

Can the Atlanta Falcons overcome their dubious playoff history when they take on the surging Seattle Seahawks on Sunday?

Will the Houston Texans flame out like they have in previous playoffs when they face the New England Patriots on Sunday?

Can the San Francisco 49ers get back to mauling teams like they did early in the season when they face the Green Bay Packers today?

Let's break the games down.

The gritty and hard-nosed Baltimore defense faces a Denver offense today that's as smooth as a German-engineered car.

Peyton Manning has had an MVP-type season leading the Broncos to 11 consecutive wins to close the regular season.

His ability to slice defenses has hidden the fact that the Broncos' running game has been so-so at best.

The key will be whether Baltimore's offense can keep up.

Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco gets so much flak for not being an elite QB and not enough for what he is: the only quarterback in the Super Bowl era to win postseason games in each of his first five seasons.

Unless the Ravens are able to connect on deep plays, their season will come to an end in Denver today, thus ending the career of Lewis.

Staying with Saturday, the 49ers-Packers game should be fun. Both teams are much different from when they met in the season opener.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers led the NFL in passer rating for the second year in a row.

The Niners have a new quarterback — Colin Kaepernick — but everyone else around him is the same, including running back Frank Gore, tight end Vernon Davis and receiver Michael Crabtree.

San Fran's defense must be special in this game against Green Bay or the Pack will romp. Green Bay goes on the road and grabs this victory.

On Sunday, the Texans and Patriots revisit their game from Dec. 12 when the Patriots ran up and down the field on Houston 42-14.

In that game, former Buc cornerback Aqib Talib, now with the Patriots, did a great job of containing Houston's Andre Johnson. If Johnson can't have a big game, the Texans are in trouble.

Come to think of it, nothing much has changed since that meeting on either team, so expect the Patriots to win big again.

Finally, the Falcons-­Seahawks matchup could be the game of the weekend.

Atlanta has been in this position before, having home-field advantage throughout the playoffs only to lose in its first game.

Seattle is coming in having won eight of its last nine games. Quarterback Russel Wilson is playing like a veteran, throwing pin-point passes to complement his ability to get out of the pocket. Marshawn "Skittles" Lynch is the best back on the West Coast, and Seattle's secondary is the best of any remaining team.

Still, Atlanta has the experience and the players to give Seattle's defense fits. And if the Falcons start off fast, Seattle will not be able to overcome that as it did against Washington last week.

This time, Atlanta marches on.

[ Rick Brown may be reached at rick.brown@theledger.com. ]

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